


Wingman Waiting

by SunBinamra



Category: Generator Rex
Genre: Angst, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, One Shot, Time Skips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-12
Updated: 2016-09-12
Packaged: 2018-08-14 16:55:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8021767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunBinamra/pseuds/SunBinamra
Summary: “Sometimes it’s hard to have a best friend with a hero complex. Seriously, the heart attacks aren’t worth it.” Snapshots of Noah’s life and thoughts during the six month gap. Oneshot.Originally published on ff.net on August 1, 2015





	Wingman Waiting

**Disclaimer: I do not own** **_Generator Rex._ **

_Bzzzzzzt! Bzzzzzzt! Bzzzzzzt! Bzzzz -_

“Hello?”

“Noah? It’s Dr. Holiday.”

“Holiday?” Noah Nixon blinked in shock. “Um, hi. How did you…? Never mind. Rex right?”

“Yes, he gave me your number. Speaking of which, have you seen him?” Noah’s brow furrowed.

“Um, no. Did he break out of Providence again?”

“No…” That hesitant _no_ made Noah uneasy.

“Then, um, what’s going on?” Holiday sighed on the other end of the phone.

“He had a mission to bring Breach over to our side -”

“Breach?!” Noah exclaimed. “That creepy EVO girl with four arms? The one that can rip holes in reality?”

“Yes, her,” Holiday said. “Van Kleiss did something to strengthen her powers to unimaginable levels… She’s able to create portals through not only space but time itself.” Noah sat back in shock.

“Oh wow,” he breathed. “So that’s… pretty bad, right?”

“One of the most significant threats to national security ever seen,” Holiday said dryly. “Or the greatest asset. Which is why Breach needed to be brought to our side, and Rex volunteered to do that by winning her trust.”

“Okay. Sooo why are you asking me where he is? Aren’t you people keeping tabs on him?” There was silence on the other end.

“We… we were, but a Providence squad barged in guns blazing and scared her off. Unfortunately, Rex disappeared with her.” Noah blinked.

“Wait, what do you mean disappeared?”

“Reports show that Breach created a time portal,” Holiday said quietly. “Both of them disappeared with it.”

“WHAT?!” Noah yelped. “Are you telling me that my best friend’s been sent back in time?!”

“Or forward, we don’t know,” Holiday admitted. “But I was hoping… maybe he had simply been injured by the blast and went to your house? They weren’t far from where you live, at the time. Or maybe he had only been sent a few days into the past, and I think he was hanging out with you then…” she trailed off. Then she sighed. “It was stupid of me, I know, but I had to check. He could literally be anywhere…”

“Or anywhen,” Noah finished grimly. What could have happened? God, the possibilities were endless. “Is there… is there anything I can do?”

“Just keep an eye out for anything unusual, and _be careful_. With Rex gone, who knows what Van Kleiss will do? Of course, Breach is gone as well but still…”

“Yeah, got it,” Noah said hollowly. “Um, can you, like, keep me posted or something? If… no, _when_ he comes back,” he had to emphasize the when, because the thought of never seeing his best friend again wasn’t an option. “I’m sure he’ll go to you guys first.”

“Of course,” Holiday said, and Noah hated the traces of sadness and pity he heard in her voice. There was a hesitant pause before she continued, “And Noah? Remember, Rex is tough. He’ll be okay.”

“Right.” It wasn’t exactly comforting that he was sure she was trying to convince both of them.

“Right. Well, I have to go, going to run some tests at the scene and see if we can glean anything useful.”

“Uh huh. Okay then. Bye,” Noah said shortly before pressing the _end_ button. He felt numb, almost cold. Logically, he knew this wasn’t the only time Rex had been in danger. Hell, Rex and trouble went hand in hand but this… this was beyond any level 1 EVO or Van Kleiss trying to take over the UN again. What if he was sent back to one of the ice ages, or to the dinosaur age where the atmosphere alone was hostile for humans? What if he got caught up in World War I or went so far into the future that the world wasn’t even recognizable?

And just how the hell was Rex supposed to get home?

* * *

The first few days were the hardest. The world had not stopped turning even if its greatest hope had vanished. Life went on as normal, and Noah wanted to scream because _nothing was normal._

If life was normal, he and Rex would be planning how the EVO was going to break out of Providence this time (it was getting harder and harder - White had wised up after the first fifty breakouts). Then they’d both agree to meet at the park around the corner from Noah’s house so they could play basketball (read: count how many people Rex hit with the ball either from a rebounding shot or just plain missing the hoop). Maybe Rex would try to convince him to watch that stupid soap opera he liked so much at Noah’s place, and they’d order in pizza and somehow Bobo would join them. Then Noah would kick them out because _unlike you, I have school and homework and I can’t concentrate with people wailing in Spanish on my TV!_

If life was normal, Noah wouldn’t be going out of mind worrying that his best friend may or may not be partying with the dinosaurs. He would not be constantly bugging Holiday for updates that just depressed both of them because there was nothing to report. Rex had vanished without a trace.

Sure, Noah was always slightly worried about Rex, but in general he was confident in his friend’s abilities. The idea of Rex not coming back to help him plan his next date with Claire or tease him about his study habits was unfathomable. Hell, if something happened to him, _they would never know_. The dangerous nature of Rex’s job never seemed real, until now.

But somehow, as the days progressed and no news came in, Noah began to limit himself to checking with Holiday once a day, instead of every few hours. Soon, it dwindled down to once a week. And for the most part, Noah had managed to shove the ever-present worry to the back of his mind. It still popped up at random intervals, often when he was stressed (What’s the use of studying for this test when Rex could be freezing to death millions of years in the past?). But along with that worry came a twinge of resentment, and Noah hated himself for it. Why did his best friend have to be the hero all the time? Why couldn’t Noah’s best friend be _normal_ , someone who wasn’t constantly endangering himself for the welfare of others?

Damn Rex and his stupid hero complex.

* * *

When he broke the news to Claire (and Annie, because the two girls were a package deal), they were understandably distraught.

“Oh my gosh! Do you think he’ll be okay?” Claire asked worriedly. Annie gasped.

“Oh no! What if he gets sent to the future, and is kidnapped by an army of robots - because at the rate we’re going robots and machines _will_ rule the Earth, haven’t you seen _Terminator_? - and they’re so advanced his nanites can’t communicate with them? Or what if he gets sent to the South during the Civil War? Or what if -”

“Enough, Annie!” Claire interrupted. Noah sent her a grateful look. She was preying on fears and scenarios that Noah had already exhausted. “We just… we just have to believe in Rex. He’s gotten through worse, right?”

 _Not exactly_ , Noah thought, but didn’t voice that out loud.

“A-and besides, Rex is a hero, right?” Annie asked desperately. “And heroes always come back! That’s what always happens in movies like this!”

Noah didn’t have the heart to remind her that this was reality, not Hollywood, and sometimes heroes didn’t come home. But he still held onto the hope that Rex would be okay. He had to be okay.

* * *

Bobo showed up on his doorstep exactly two months after Rex disappeared. It was weird to see the chimp without his human companion.

“Bobo?” Noah asked, bewildered. “What are you doing here?”

“Escapin’ Providence,” the chimp grumbled, loping past Noah into the house. He was lugging a small suitcase with him.

“Escaping…? Why?” Noah asked, closing the door.

“Things are changin’,” Bobo said, hopping onto the couch. “The higher-ups are getting restless, and they think Providence needs a… new direction, now that Rex is gone.”

“What does that mean?” Noah asked, confused.

“They want White to step down, think it’s better to take a more peaceful, _scientific_ approach instead of a military one cause their greatest weapon is gone,” Bobo grumbled.

“Meaning…?”

“They’ve started by working towards controlling EVOs, not fighting ‘em. Which is why I had to get outta there,” Bobo explained. “They want to get rid of White cause he disagrees. He thinks we need to be stronger than ever _because_ Rex isn’t here to bail our butts out. I’m still allowed some freedoms cause of him,” Bobo made a face. “But if White goes, they’ll probably throw me in a cage.”

“Won’t they notice you’re gone?”

“Nah, left a friend of mine to take my place.” Bobo grinned and Noah decided he didn’t want to know.

“Okay… but White’s been doing this for years, now. He won’t be easy to get rid of.”

“True,” Bobo agreed. “But what the higher-ups want, the higher-ups get. I doubt even White will be able to keep them off his back for long.”

* * *

Bobo’s prediction came true about a month and a half after the chimp first showed up at Noah’s door. The two received word that White Knight had destroyed part of Providence HQ after being asked to step down. The man had not been heard from since.

Two days later, Noah received a call from Holiday.

“Hello?”

“Noah, it’s me,” Holiday sounded rushed. “Have you heard what happened with White?”

“Yeah, I did,” Noah said.

“Well, now that White’s gone, I’m afraid that anyone who supported him will be done away with,” Holiday said hurriedly. “The woman who replaced him, Black Knight,” Noah snorted. “... is taking her job to completely change Providence very seriously. So Six and I are taking an ‘indefinite leave of absence’ to look for Rex. It’s not like Providence is going to do anything about it,” she grumbled. “However, they may not take kindly to that so we’ll probably have to get out of there fast. Bobo’s with you, right?”

“Yeah, but -”

“Good,” the doctor interrupted. “Hand the phone to him, please.” Noah wordlessly handed his cell to the chimp, who took it warily.

“‘Sup, Doc?” The chimp listened carefully and nodded a few times to what Holiday was saying. Then he handed the phone back to Noah and trundled off to the boy’s room.

“Guess it’s bye for now, blondie!” Bobo called over his shoulder. “Can’t stay, got orders from the boss.”

“What’s he mean by that?” Noah asked Holiday suspiciously.

“Bobo’s a member of Providence - er, was. So we’re going to take him off your hands. I’m sure living with him the past month has been… interesting, to say the least.” She sounded amused. Noah made a face.

“You have no idea,” the boy muttered. “But anyway, what do you mean ‘take him off my hands?’”

“I’ve given Bobo the location of our rendezvous point,” Holiday said. “After Six and I file our indefinite leave, we’ll be heading there.”

“Okay. So where and when should I meet you guys?” There was a pause.

“Noah, you’re not coming with us,” Holiday said gently.

“What?! But why?” Noah cried.

“We’re essentially going into hiding, Noah. Dropping off the grid. You can’t abandon your family, and you still have school and such…”

“Rex is my best friend!” Noah argued. “There’s no way I’m just going to sit around and do nothing when I could be helping!”

“You can’t just disappear, Noah,” Holiday said sharply. “Providence already keeps tabs on you because of your friendship with Rex, but they can’t do anything because you’re not a true Providence employee. However, if they were to follow you… We can’t risk revealing our location, not now.” Silence.

“You’re going to meet up with White,” Noah said in realization.

“Yes. And from there, we’ll look for Rex, without interference from that woman or her pawns. I don’t trust her at all.”

“Okay, but I still want to help,” Noah protested. “Holiday, please, just let me -”

“ _No_ , Noah,” she said firmly. Then she sighed wearily. “Look, I’ll call you when I can and let you know how things are going. But I can’t say for sure when that will happen because we need to get secure first.” In the background, Noah thought he could make out Six’s voice telling Holiday to hurry up. “Alright, I’ve got to go, Noah, but don’t worry about us. We’ll contact you when we’re settled.”

“But -”

“Relax, blondie,” Bobo said as he walked up with his suitcase packed. “We’re professionals, we can handle it.”

“That’s not the point -”

“Right, tell Bobo to leave now,” Holiday commanded over the phone. “I really have to go. Don’t call this number again. Bye!”

“Wait -!”

The line was already dead.

“See ya, blondie,” Bobo said with a salute. “Thanks for lettin’ me crash here.”

“You can’t just -” But the chimp was already out the door before Noah could form a proper retort.

* * *

Holiday wasn’t kidding when she said Black Knight took her job seriously. Within days of White’s explosive departure, new “humane” protocols and procedures were implemented. Providence announced a new program for taming EVOs using special collars, and even Noah had to admit the commercials were quite convincing.

“We have spent so long fighting these creatures when we could have been living together in harmony. Today, we start building that better, peaceful future,” the spokesperson droned on the TV. Noah wrinkled his nose in distaste.

“Yeah, if you disregard the fact that EVOs will no longer have any free will,” he muttered. Unfortunately, he seemed to be one of very few people who thought Providence’s new direction was sketchy. His parents were thrilled that they no longer had to worry about some monster attacking their son on his way to school. His neighbors were thinking of getting a pet EVO, “because some of them are actually really cute when, you know, they’re not trying to chew your face off.” His classmates now thought Providence was the best thing since table tennis.

“Finally, they’re actually doing something productive!” one girl exclaimed in class after the teacher showed an infomercial for the new collars.

“But what about their rights?” Noah protested. “Some of those EVOs were human, once. Isn’t it wrong to take away their free will? Shouldn’t we be working towards a cure instead?”

“That EVO kid was supposed to be a cure,” the girl sneered. “And look how well that turned out!”

“And besides,” another kid piped up. “Those EVOs are monsters! We shouldn’t have to live in fear of our relatives trying to tear us apart because they suddenly sprouted claws! What about _our_ right to live in peace?”

“Yeah!” several kids chimed in.

“But -” Noah began.

“Shut it, EVO lover,” the first girl snapped. “Just because you don’t mind living with monsters doesn’t mean the rest of us feel the same.” Noah glared but stayed quiet. It was clear no one in the classroom, not even the teacher, was going to back him up.

He even tried to talk to his parents about it, but they didn’t understand either.

“Look, sweetheart,” his mother said. “I know you were friends with that EVO boy from Providence, but with the new program we’re safer than ever! Besides, don’t you think your friend will be glad that he no longer has to spend his time fighting monsters?”

“Change is never easy, son,” his dad added. “But you’ll see. Providence is just doing what’s best for everyone.”

 _But this is wrong!_ Noah wanted to scream. _This is practically brainwashing! We’re enslaving these EVOs who have done nothing wrong except possess corrupted nanites!_

In a perverse way, Noah was glad Rex wasn’t here to see how far Providence had fallen. For all its faults, Providence was Rex’s home, and Black Knight had defiled it. He didn’t even want to think about what that woman would do to his friend if she ever got her hands on him.

* * *

“Okay, here goes nothing,” Noah muttered, steeling himself for what was to come.

He nervously approached the small, plain-looking building, resumé clutched tightly in his hands. He checked the papers for the millionth time to make sure everything was perfect (not that he would have been able to do anything if they weren’t). His hair was neatly combed, he wore his most professional outfit, and he had gone over what he was going to say all morning. Perhaps he was overly anxious, but hey, it was his first job interview.

Noah noticed a splash of color out of the corner of his eye, and with a pang he realized it was a promotional poster for _El Amor De La Pasión El Amor_ , Rex’s favorite soap opera. Noah could imagine the look on his best friend’s face if he knew Noah was applying for a job at the TV studio where the show was filmed, and almost laughed out loud.

But Rex had not been here for nearly five months, and Noah was again reminded of this fact.

He furiously shook his head in a vain attempt to get rid of the nagging worries that were always in the back of his mind now. He did not have time to worry about his missing best friend, he had a job interview to ace.

Taking a deep breath, Noah raised his fist and knocked on the studio manager’s office door.

* * *

Noah stumbled through his front door, pale and shaking from nerves.

“My God, that woman is terrifying,” he moaned, sinking into the couch. Then he eyed the packet that sat in his lap. “But she gave me the job, so I guess she’s not all that bad.”

He sifted through the materials he had been given: a new uniform (it was friggin’ ugly - Noah winced just thinking about having to wear the thing all day), a badge, a packet detailing his job responsibilities, and a map of the studio.

A warm bubble of accomplishment bloomed in Noah’s chest. He’d done it, he landed his first job! Now all he had to do was not screw it up.

Noah reached for his phone to spread the good news. His finger automatically sought out Rex’s name. He hesitated. His best friend was the one he called when important stuff happened. If Rex were here, Noah could imagine the teasing (“Haha! Finally got a job, lazy bones? I had a job waaaay before you even considered working!”) and then the congratulations (“Great job, dude. Knew you could do it! And hey, think you could hook me up sometime? Who knows what celebrities you’ll run into!”). The thought made Noah smile sadly.

His finger hovered over Rex’s name a moment longer before he scrolled through his contacts to find Claire’s number.

* * *

Six months after Holiday first called him, Noah received another call from the doctor.

“Hello?”

“Noah,” Holiday said breathlessly. “He’s back.” Noah bolted upright.

“WHAT?!” he shouted. “When? Where is he? How -”

“We’re not sure yet,” Holiday said. “But we do know he’s at Providence. He radioed in from the desert this morning.”

“Oh my God,” Noah breathed. Overwhelming relief washed through him… until he registered where his best friend was. “Wait, did you say he’s at Providence?!”

“Yes. We’re working on getting him out of there now. Of course, it won’t be easy since Black Knight is doing everything to get him on her side…”

“She’s not gonna collar him, is she?” Noah asked anxiously. Holiday sighed heavily.

“She might, if he doesn’t cooperate. And you of all people should be familiar with Rex’s, um, authority issues.” Noah cringed. Yeah, he was _very_ familiar with those. “But I don’t think Black Knight will want to hurt him. She wants to use him.”

“Yeah, we can hope. How are you going to get him out?” he asked.

“We have someone on the inside,” Holiday replied vaguely. “We may have to wait a couple days, but from what I’ve heard Rex is fine. Apparently he hadn’t realized he’d been sent to the future.”

“So all this time he -?”

“Yes. Breach sent him six months into the future, apparently. So for Rex, only a couple minutes have passed since the incident.”

“Oh man,” Noah said in sympathy. “Poor Rex. He must be so confused, everything’s changed so much.”

“I know. But he’s back, and he’s safe. Sort of,” Holiday said, not even bothering to disguise the relief in her voice.

“Thank God,” Noah said fervently.

“I’ll call you again once we’ve figured this mess out, okay? Don’t worry, we’ll bring him home,” Holiday said soothingly.

“Okay,” Noah agreed, deciding not to fight about being excluded (again) from the action. His best friend was back!

“Alright. Bye, Noah,” Holiday said before hanging up.

“Bye,” Noah said absently to the dialtone before clicking his phone shut. It still didn’t feel real, but slowly it was dawning on Noah that the wait was over. All the worry, the fear that something had happened to his friend but he would never know, the irrational anger at Rex for getting himself into this mess in the first place, it was dissipating into thin air. Noah wanted to pump his fist in the air and cheer, but for now he settled for a stupidly wide grin.

Rex was back! All they had to do now was figure out how to get him away from Black Knight’s clutches.

* * *

The day after Rex’s return, Noah got a text from an unknown number.

_Skate park. 4 pm. Don’t be late._

“Well that’s not sketchy at all,” Noah muttered to himself. But he grabbed his shoes and his customary jacket before running out the door.

The skate park was about an hour’s walk away from his house. It was right on the outskirts of the city, and ironically enough, the place where he first met Rex. He stopped to grab a drink from the vending machine when he heard a small sound from behind him.

A masked figure stepped out from the shadows.

“Who are you?” Noah asked warily, wishing he’d brought his Providence-issued gun with him. “What do you want?”

“It’s me, kid,” Six’s voice issued from the mask.

“Six?!” Noah exclaimed. “What are you doing here? Where’s Rex?”

“You’ll see,” the ex-assassin said vaguely. “Come with me.” Then he turned around and started walking.

“Wait -!” Noah hurried after him. “Where are we going? And why didn’t you just call me?”

“We can’t be too careful. Your phone might be tapped, and you’re probably being watched,” Six said. Noah blinked.

“Fun,” he said sarcastically. “So again, where are we going?”

“New base of operations. We got Rex away from Providence.”

* * *

“Woah, nice,” Noah said in awe as he was led through the dam. “You’ve been living here for how long now?”

“Three months, give or take,” Six replied shortly.

“Wow,” Noah repeated, but his mind was occupied with a sudden flood of worries. He didn’t know what to feel about having Rex suddenly pop back into his life like nothing happened. And anyway, how does one react to seeing their missing best friend when said best friend just _traveled through time_?

Good grief, why couldn’t his life be normal?

“Noah? Noah. Noah!”

“Huh?” Noah turned his head towards Six, who raised an eyebrow.

“You alright?” he asked.

“Fine,” Noah said robotically. The eyebrow arched higher and Six paused, as if choosing his next words carefully.

“You don’t seem too excited. I’d have thought you would be much… happier than this to see Rex again.”

“I am,” the blonde replied automatically. “It’s just… sometimes it’s hard to have a best friend with a hero complex. He gets himself into these crazy situations and then the rest of us have no idea what’s going on so am I supposed to be worried that he’s gonna die for like the millionth time or should I just stop worrying because if I keep worrying about him getting himself into trouble then I’m gonna go insane OR should I be angry that he’s successfully shortened my lifespan by a good ten years by pulling stunts like _being transported to the future_ and should I have been in mourning by now cause if something happened to him while time traveling it’s not like we’d ever _know_ about it, you know?” Then, realizing he was rambling, Noah summarized, “Seriously, the heart attacks aren’t worth it.”

There was an awkward silence as Noah realized he had just poured out his feelings to _Six_ , of all people. “So, uh, did _you_ miss him…?” Noah began intelligently. He quickly trailed off when he realized he was asking _Six_ to talk about _his_ feelings. Way to make an awkward situation even more awkward, Nixon.

Thankfully, the two were spared any further soul-baring by the best friend in question.

“NOAH!” A blur of orange and black and suddenly Noah was being glomped by his missing best friend.

“R-Rex?” Noah stammered.

“For me it seems like I only saw you a couple days ago but for you I know it was like six months so hi Noah I’m baaaaaack!” Rex sang, squeezing his friend tightly.

“Rex…” Noah repeated dazedly. Even though he’d known beforehand, it was completely different to see him in person. Rex was actually _here_.

Rex pouted. “Time travel sucks, by the way.”

“I wouldn’t know,” Noah mumbled, disentangling himself from Rex’s grip.

“Seriously, I got so confused when I saw Black Knight sitting in White’s chair,” Rex continued, ignoring Noah. “I mean, when César led me directly to the office I knew something was wrong… By the way, have you seen his goatee? When did _that_ happen?” Noah couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Six months,” Noah deadpanned. “You’ve been gone for _six months_ , and the first thing you ask about is _your brother’s new goatee_?!”

“Well,” Rex said sheepishly. “He does look kind of stupid with it… You look exactly the same, by the way, which is great cause no one else does. Except maybe Bobo.” Noah facepalmed.

“I hate you,” Noah grumbled into his hand. “I hate you so much right now, you have no idea.”

“Is that any way to treat your best friend?” Rex chided.

“Not when he’s being an idiot,” Noah countered. Suddenly the initial shock over seeing his best friend was replaced by anger. He grabbed Rex by the shoulders and shook him.

“What were you thinking?!” he shouted. “Breach is crazy! Why would you think you could _make friends with her_?! She’s tried to kill you!”

“Well, to be fair, she never actually tried to _kill_ me, per se…” Rex said.

“No, she just wanted to stuff you in her little pocket dimension and keep you forever and ever. That sounds like grounds for a great friendship,” Noah said sarcastically. Rex frowned.

“I think she’s just lonely, she was perfectly fine being friends until Providence showed up,” he glared pointedly at White. Noah groaned.

“You’re still an idiot,” he grumbled. Rex raised an eyebrow.

“Geez, Noah, it’s been six months. Shouldn’t you have thought of better insults by now?” Oh, that was _it._

“I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!” Noah roared before chasing his cackling best friend around the room. “GET BACK HERE, SALAZAR!”

White shook his head as he watched the two boys run around. “Teenagers,” he grumbled irritably. Holiday hit him on the shoulder lightly.

“Can you blame them?” she asked, snickering as Rex yelped when Noah gave up the chase and just started throwing anything he could get his hands on. “Rex has been tossed into a completely new world and Noah has been worried sick for the better half of a year. They both need to let off steam.”

“By trying to kill each other?”

“You know Rex. He has a tendency to joke around when he’s stressed or scared, and I’m sure Noah didn’t appreciate that after six months of worrying… Besides, we’ll step in if things start to get out of hand.” She smiled fondly at the boys in question.

“Yeah, you go, blondie! Use those b-ball skills you’re so proud of!” Bobo had ambled out to watch the fun.

“Traitor!” Rex whined as he dodged several beakers. Holiday’s smile suddenly slipped.

“Oh no you don’t,” she growled, stalking forward. The two teens plus chimp froze in fear.

“Don’t you _dare_ get my stuff involved in this,” she hissed. “We barely have enough supplies as is. You break it, you buy it. WITH INTEREST.”

“Yes ma’am!” the boys nodded frantically. Bobo slunk back into the shadows, hoping the doctor didn’t realize he was the one who handed the beakers to Noah. Luckily for him, she hadn’t.

Holiday shook her head and walked away. “Dinner’s going to be ready soon,” she called over her shoulder. Noah and Rex blanched before looking at each other in horror.

“Um, think Doc’s cooking has gotten any better over the past six months?” Rex asked hesitantly. Noah grimaced.

“No. If anything, from what I’ve heard it’s gotten _worse_.”

“How’s that possible?!” Rex gasped. Both boys whipped around to see Holiday’s retreating back. They shared another look before calling an unspoken truce and hurrying after her.

“Hey Doc, you, uh, seem pretty tired from yesterday still so, uh, why don’t you let me handle the cooking, eheheh…” Rex began. Holiday frowned.

“No, it’s okay, Rex. I’ve been practicing these past few months.” Both boys felt a pang of sympathy for Six, White and Bobo. “Besides, you should spend some time with Noah.”

“But -”

“I’ll help!” Noah cut in. “Cause, you know, I feel kind of bad about bugging you so often,” he added hurriedly at Holiday’s questioning glance. Rex too looked mystified. “Plus, it’s a great opportunity to catch up!” Holiday assessed the two teenagers, who held their breaths in anticipation.

_Please give in, please give in, please give in -_

“Alright,” she finally relented. Noah and Rex relaxed considerably. “As long as you ask Bobo to help you. He’s actually a pretty good cook, and quite frankly, I don’t trust you two alone in the kitchen, considering how many things went flying earlier,” she glared at the boys, who gulped.

“Yes ma’am!” They ran off to the makeshift kitchen before she could scold them more. Once inside, they collapsed against the counter.

“That was close,” Noah gasped.

“No kidding,” Rex agreed. They looked at each other and then started laughing. They laughed so hard that Rex toppled over and Noah had to hold on to the counter just to stay upright.

“Oh man,” Noah wheezed, wiping away a stray tear. “There’s really nothing funny about this. Why are we laughing?”

“Why not?” Rex countered, starting to wind down. “‘Sides, it’s been a while since we’ve done something like this, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Noah murmured, finally calming down and closing his eyes. A comfortable silence descended, each teen lost in his own thoughts.

“Hey Rex?”

“Mhm?”

“I’m glad you’re back.” Rex grinned.

“Yeah, it’s good to be home.”

**Author's Note:**

> Author’s Ramblings: It annoys me that they totally glossed over Noah’s reaction to Rex’s six month disappearance. The first time we see him in season 3, he’s freaked out because Rex might cost him his job, not because he just got his friend back. What the hell was Noah doing for six months, hibernating? I find it hard to believe he was completely fine with the fact that his best friend went missing for half a year, then miraculously returned saying he traveled through time.
> 
> By the way, I made up the timeline for when events happened during the six month gap, because I don’t remember there being any specific references in the show. Please let me know if you spot any inaccuracies!


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